By Bob BirgeHere is a nightmare scenario for the New York Rangers to miss the playoffs:-- Ottawa clinches a playoff spot on Thursday with a win at Washington, which has nothing to play for after clinching the Southeast Division with a 5-3 victory over Winnipeg on Tuesday.-- Winnipeg, fired up for its last game home, posts a 4-2 win on Thursday over Canadiens, who are staggering into playoffs with ...

By Bob Birge   Is it really true? Are the Toronto Maple Leafs, hockey version of the Chicago Cubs, actually going to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2004? It isn't official yet and there is still time for the Leafs to blow their eight-point cushion, but four wins in their final nine games should be enough. If the Leafs -- or Leafers, as they are known t...

  With Charles Wang unable to get a new arena for his team in Nassau County, I've been giving my college buddy, a huge Islanders' fan, a hard time for the past couple seasons. I've told him that he better get used to rooting for the Kansas City Islanders in a couple years. I think the threat of the Islanders moving was very real, but it's obviously something he no longer needs to worry a...

  Monday marked the fifth anniversary of the passing of beloved former Yankees' broadcaster Phil Rizzuto. To mark the occasion, this is something I wrote about the great Scooter before the start of the 2009 World Series between the Yankees and Phillies (It's still appropriate, I think:) The Yankees will play in a World Series for the first time since his passing. He has been gone a little...

  Sometimes it seems the Yankees don't compete against the rest of the American League as much as they compete against themselves.   After gaining a split of a four-game series against the White Sox with Sunday's 4-2 victory, the Yankees improved to 48-30. If they win merely one of three games at Tampa Bay, they will end the first half of the season with 49 wins.   That would...